IS JESUS ‘GOD’?
(NOTE : The following article was writ
ten with “Oneness” adherents in mind)
At John 17:1-3 Jesus prayed,
John 17:3 REV And this is life in the age to come, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
Jesus addressed this prayer to his Father, used the singular form of the pronoun, and described this singular “You” as “the only true God.” Thus, according to Jesus, the Father alone is God.
Jesus prayed this prayer while his disciples were listening. If he wanted to give his disciples the impression that he was God in the flesh, he certainly made the wrong choice of words.
For example, he could have said ‘that they know Us, the only true God.’
Other passages of Scripture confirm that which Jesus spoke here.
1Corinthians 8:6, “…yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist…”
Ephesians 4:4-6, “There is… one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all.”
These passages were written long after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. In the salutations of his letters Paul repeatedly refers to God as the Father, three times in the salutation of Galatians alone. — Galatians 1:1, 3, 4
See also Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:3; 2 Corinthians 1:2, 3; Ephesians 1:2, 3; Philippians 1:2; Colossians 1:2, 3; 1 Thessalonians 1:1, 3; 2 Thessalonians 1:1, 2; 1 Timothy 1:2; 2 Timothy 1:2; Titus 1:3, 4; Philemon 3.
See also 1 Peter 1:2, 3; 2 John 3 and Jude 1.
In each of these salutations God is always associated with “the Father,” never with “Jesus” or with “the Son.”
Read the following passages of Scripture in your Bible. Note how many times it is mentioned that Jesus is literally God in these sermons to unbelievers:
Acts 2:14-41; Peter preaches to crowd on Pentecost.
Acts 3:12-26; Peter preaches at the Temple.
Acts 7:2-56; Stephen preaches to the Jewish Council and is stoned to death.
Acts 10:34-43; Peter preaches to Cornelius, family, and friends.
Acts 13:16-41; Paul preaches in synagogue in Antioch of Pisidia.
Acts 17:22-31; Paul preaches at the Aeropagus in Athens.
Acts 22:1-21; Paul preaches to the crowd upon his arrest in Jerusalem.
Acts 24:10-21; Paul preaches to Governor Felix.
Acts 26:2-23; Paul preaches to King Agrippa.
In these sermons to unbelievers how many times is it mentioned that Jesus is God? ZERO! If such a teaching were seminal Christian truth and the cornerstone of salvation, why was it never mentioned in any of these sermons, not even once?!
Note that in Peter’s sermon on Pentecost he describes Jesus as “a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him…” (Acts 2:22) God did miraculous works through Jesus; Jesus did not do them because he was God! (See also Acts 10:38, where it reads “for God was with him.”) In verse 2:36 Peter says that “God has made him [Jesus] both Lord and Messiah.” If Jesus were God it would not have been necessary for God to make him Lord — that is, someone with authority– since he already would have that authority.
There are a few verses which do use “God” in reference to Jesus. As the word of God, the Bible cannot contradict itself. How can the Father be the only true God, and yet Jesus also be God? Most believe that there are two options: either Jesus is true God or a false god. But the Bible reveals a third option, one which we will demonstrate later.
First, let us examine one ‘solution’ some apply to the problem.
Some believe that the Father is the only true God, but that Jesus is also the Father. (This view is often called Oneness.) For support they point to John 14:9-10 :
Joh 14:9-10 REV Jesus said to him, “Have I been such a long time with you, and do you not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’ (10) Do you not believe that I am in union with the Father, and the Father is in union with me? The words that I am saying to you I am not speaking from myself, but the Father living in union with me does his works.
We have a cliché that says ‘Like father, like son.’ This saying is used when a son displays characteristics very similar to his father’s. Likewise, Jesus perfectly displayed the characteristics and personality of his Father. He was able to do this because he was filled with the holy spirit, which he had in unmeasured portion. But this does not prove that Jesus is literally the Father.
Suppose you were passing by and saw me standing in front of a large house. You stop and ask, ‘Is this your house?’ And I reply, ‘This is not my house, but it is the house of the one who invited me.’ This would make it clear that I am not the owner of the house, but a guest. Let’s note what Jesus says in the Bible:
“Jesus answered them and said, ‘My teaching is not mine, but His who sent me.’” — John 7:16
“He who does not love me does not keep my words; and the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me.” — John 14:24
“For I have not spoken on my own authority; but the Father who sent me gave me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.” — John 12:49
“Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent me, and to accomplish His work.’” — John 4:34
“For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me.” — John 6:38
[Jesus prayed,] “saying, ‘Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from me; nevertheless, not my will, but Yours be done.’” — Luke 22:42
“I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is righteousness, because I do not seek my own will but the will of the Father who sent me.” — John 5:30
“Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I proceeded and came forth from God; I came not of my own accord, but He sent me.’” — John 8:42
If words have any discernable meaning, the above passages clearly demonstrate that Jesus thought of himself as someone separate and distinct from his Father.
Let us now ask, “What does the OT say?”
Exodus 7:1 reports,
“And Yahweh said to Moses, ‘See, I have made you God to Pharaoh; and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.’”
Here Yahweh Himself calls Moses “God.’ Did Yahweh call him this because Moses was literally God or because Moses would be acting as His representative?
Now let’s note what Moses said to Israel as recorded at Deuteronomy 18:15-18,
“Yahweh your God shall raise up to you a prophet from among you, of your brothers, one LIKE ME; you shall listen to him, according to all that you desired of Yahweh your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Do not let me hear again the voice of Yahweh my God, nor let me see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ And Yahweh said to me, ‘They have spoken well in what they have spoken. I shall raise up a prophet to them from among their brothers, one LIKE YOU; and I will put My words in his mouth; and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him.’”
(According to Peter this prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus the Messiah. See Acts 3:20-23.)
Notice that according to Moses and Yahweh this prophet was to be LIKE MOSES! Moses was God in a representative sense. If Jesus were literally God then Moses should have said that he would be LIKE GOD, and Yahweh should have said that this prophet would be LIKE HIMSELF.
This representative sense is the third option revealed by Scripture. This solution allows Jesus to have spoken the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth in John 17:1-3.
The Trinitarian and Oneness solutions require Jesus to have said something that he did not mean.
Questions for those who believe in the Oneness doctrine:
1. Why would Jesus identify the Father as the “only true God” if he is God also?
2. Why do the Christian writers never use the expression “God the Son” and why do they never explain, especially to unbelievers in the book of Acts, that Jesus is literally God in the flesh?
3. Why, especially after the Ascension, are God and Jesus mentioned together so often in context if they are one and the same?
4. Revelation 1:1 opens with “A revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him…” Did Jesus give the Revelation to himself? In Revelation 3:12 Jesus speaks of the “temple of my God,” “the name of my God,” and “the city of my God.” Why didn’t he simply say “my” temple, name, and city?
5. Could the answer to these questions be that Jesus is not literally God, but truly His Son and His supreme representative?